Given that most parents of students with disabilities have difficulty navigating the special education system, advocacy training offers one way to aid parents in securing appropriate educational se...

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1044207311424910

Improving Parental Involvement: Training Special Education Advocates

This study extends the research on issues of trust in family—professional relationships by more fully examining, within a qualitative research design, the nature of trust between parents of children with disabilities and school personnel. The authors examined the trust-related perspectives of 16 mothers of children with various disabilities at all levels of the P—12 educational system. Analysis of the mothers' responses to face-to-face interview questions yielded three primary categories that seem to influence trust: family characteristics, teacher characteristics, and school characteristics. Discussion focuses on the mothers' difficulty in defining their levels of trust and on the roles of authentic caring, child-focused orientation, communication, knowledge about child characteristics, and school climate and teaming factors that appear to facilitate or inhibit trust. Discussion also addresses implications of these findings for school leadership and the establishment of healthy family—professional relati...

Trust in Education Professionals: Perspectives of Mothers of Children With Disabilities

This qualitative study explored the perspectives of parents and teachers in the US with regard to the meaning and implications of disability in the context of schoolling, and of raising a child with a disability. The findings revealed broad conceptual differences in the perspectives of these two groups. Teachers’ beliefs were generally consistent with medical model perspectives on disability as biologically defined. Parents’ interpretations, more aligned with a sociocultural paradigm, were situated in the cultural meanings ascribed to disability and linked with issues of stigma, marginalisation and access. The findings also revealed the existence of master narratives on families of children with disabilities, entrenched in assumptions of pathological functioning and negative outcomes among these families. Implications for professional–family partnerships in the education of students with disabilities are discussed.

Disability, Stigma and Otherness: Perspectives of Parents and Teachers

There are more than 6.6 million students with disabilities in U.S. public schools who receive special education services, which means that there are 6.6 million Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) that have been developed and are being implemented at any given time. Each IEP represents real cost in educational opportunity, relationship building between families and schools, time, and resource allocation. Given this information, it is important to examine what we have learned from research on the development of IEPs, and to begin charting a new direction for research and practice related to IEP development. This literature review examines published, peer-reviewed research studies that have examined IEP development since the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The review concludes with a discussion of how findings from previous research on IEP development can inform future research agendas, educator practice, and federal and state policies.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244014530411

The Development of Individualized Education Programs: Where Have We Been and Where Should We Go Now?

Research about parent experiences with the special education system is largely dominated from mothers’ perspectives. This article will present a qualitative interview study of the overlooked voice:...

Fathers’ Experiences With the Special Education System The Overlooked Voice

Given the documented benefits of family involvement in educational planning, engaging families throughout the school years is strongly advocated. However, barriers continue to impede families from collaborative partnering in educational planning. In this qualitative study the perceptions of six families were examined prior to and after the implementation of a student centered individualized education program (IEP) planning tool. Findings revealed barriers within traditional planning that relegate families to passive roles and a family preference for the student centered approach to IEP planning. The student centered approach resulted in increased family satisfaction, more collaborative participation by all IEP team members, and broader consideration of family and student input with respect to future desired outcomes as a basis for goal development.

Family Perceptions of Student Centered Planning and IEP Meetings.

Cynthia R. Chambers, M.Ed., University of Kansas, and Amy L. Childre, Ph.D., Georgia College and State University Emily-professional partnerships have been recognized through research amily-profes and supported through legislation as critical components contributing to the positive development of children with disabilities, yet current practices and services need significant improvement (McWilliams, Maxwell, & Sloper, 1999). Ideally families’ roles within schools involve collaborative efforts with professionals, however, there is a gap between actual practice and what professionals consider desirable practice. In practice families and service providers often experience difficulty in collaborating through a true partnership approach (Lake & Billingsley, 2000; Turnbull & Turnbull, 2001). This difficulty can be attributed to a number of issues including professionals’ negative past experiences, differing expectations, and lack of time and opportunity to collaborate (Stineman, Morningstar, Bishop, & Turnbull, 1993). These difficulties are particularly evident in the individualized education plan (IEP) development process and child evaluation and assessment. It has been reported that professionals exhibit limited &dquo;familycentered&dquo; practices as they complete these components of educational planning (McWilliams, Maxwell, & Sloper, 1999). Generating quality services for young children is challenging, particularly when the children and their families are not central to the planning process. Given that the children’s life outcomes are affected by the services they receive across the school years, it is critical that educational services

Fostering Family-Professional Collaboration Through Person-Centered IEP Meetings: The "True Directions" Model

The shortage of highly qualified special educators is most pronounced in rural schools serving populations characterized by poverty, low achievement, disability, and cultural diversity. The result ...

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A. L. Childre

Papers

Family Perceptions of Student Centered Planning and IEP Meetings.

Fostering Family-Professional Collaboration Through Person-Centered IEP Meetings: The "True Directions" Model

Preparing Special Educators Highly Qualified in Content: Alternative Route Certification for Unlicensed Teachers in Rural Georgia:

Family Perceptions of Student Centered Planning and

Building Friendships and Community for Adults with Disabilities through College Service Organizations